Oakland Athletics (30-60, fifth in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (58-30, first in the AL West)
Houston; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Cole Irvin (3-7, 3.32 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 58 strikeouts); Astros: Jake Odorizzi (4-2, 3.37 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 31 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -206, Athletics +173; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros start a three-game series at home against the Oakland Athletics on Friday.
Houston has gone 27-12 in home games and 58-30 overall. The Astros have the eighth-ranked team batting average in the AL at .240.
Oakland is 30-60 overall and 19-28 on the road. The Athletics are 21-8 in games when they out-hit their opponents.
The teams play Friday for the seventh time this season. The Astros lead the season series 5-1.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Tucker has 12 doubles and 17 home runs for the Astros. Aledmys Diaz is 11-for-32 with four doubles and three home runs over the past 10 games.
Seth Brown has 17 doubles, two triples and 10 home runs for the Athletics. Ramon Laureano is 9-for-37 with four home runs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 7-3, .244 batting average, 3.64 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs
Athletics: 4-6, .191 batting average, 4.20 ERA, outscored by three runs
INJURIES: Astros: Jose Altuve: day-to-day (knee), Yordan Alvarez: 10-Day IL (hand), Jason Castro: 10-Day IL (knee), Blake Taylor: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael Brantley: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Josh James: 60-Day IL (lat), Parker Mushinski: 15-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (forearm)
Athletics: Stephen Piscotty: day-to-day (wrist), Frankie Montas: day-to-day (shoulder), Jed Lowrie: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Jonah Bride: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Dany Jimenez: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daulton Jefferies: 60-Day IL (arm), Deolis Guerra: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brent Honeywell Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
